


the one where chandler isn't like mr. heckles

by avxry



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Cute, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Probably ooc, chandler freaks out so nothing new, joey is precious and i love him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 20:12:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15692559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avxry/pseuds/avxry
Summary: Chandler can't say that the death of Mr. Heckles hits him particularly hard.set during season 2 ep 3 (i think), The One Where Heckles Dies





	the one where chandler isn't like mr. heckles

**Author's Note:**

> so i honestly didn't have the energy to copy down the dialogue verbatim up until where i started changing things, so it's not completely right but the spirit is there. 
> 
> hope y'all enjoy!!

Chandler can’t say that the death of Mr. Heckles hits him particularly hard. It sucks that they possibly (allegedly) caused it, but hey, all the guy did was complain, so really, how big of a deal was it?

Finding out that Heckles had left his entire will to Monica and Rachel, though? It struck him as odd, and honestly, a little creepy. He thinks to himself, _Could it_  be _any creepier?_

As a matter of fact, it could.

The gang goes downstairs into Heckles’ apartment (is it his anymore?) and finds it in a state of total disrepair. Stacks and stacks of newspapers clutter the floor and furniture, everything is dusty and damp and moldy. He can hardly see the floor with all of the knick-knacks and corny souvenir-esque collectibles.

And then they find the yearbook. And then Chandler gets hit with a piping hot heap of reality.

"Class clown?" he thinks out loud, reading out the yearbook. "Heckles was voted class clown? _I_ was voted class clown!"

Everyone seems surprised. Someone says, "Never took Heckles to be much of a funny guy," but Chandler isn't exactly sure who, because he's still flipping through the yearbook. There are even more similarities than just being voted class clown.

"He played clarinet in the band!" he exclaims. " _I_ played clarinet in the band!"

Nobody is actually paying much attention to him, even as he yells about a club that both he and Heckles were interested in, but Chandler is pretty caught up on this. Seriously, look at how Heckles turned out - lonely and crabby and messy, eventually dying from banging on his ceiling with a broom too hard.

Chandler is affected by this much more than anyone else is. Rachel and Monica have some disagreement over a tacky lamp, and eventually they all leave for the day, but Chandler just can't stop thinking about it.

***

Chandler and Joey return to Heckles' apartment the next day, Chandler still thinking about the unsettling parallels between him and that cranky old man. And to make matters even worse, he finds a box with the names of women that Heckles had apparently dated over his many, fruitful years. But not just their names; along with each name was a negative characteristic about each of them.

"Eats food too loudly?" Chandler reads aloud to Joey, both of them sitting on the couch now. "Big nose? Annoying laugh? This is me! This is what I do!"

Joey tries not to roll his eyes and Chandler hops around on his side of the couch, agitated.

"I dump every woman I ever go out with for some stupid, superficial reason!" he exclaims, still rifling through the pieces of paper in the box. Eventually he sets it aside and groans, "I'm going to end up just like Heckles."

"Nah, come on, man," Joey says, "you're nothing like Heckles."

"But I am!" Chandler argues. "And I'm gonna end up just like him! I'm gonna be alone for the rest of my life, I'll never find anyone."

"Chandler, no, come on," Joey continues, "that's not true. You're gonna find someone eventually."

Chandler accidentally doesn't notice the odd expression that Joey almost has on his face and instead hops up on his feet and runs a hand through his short hair.

"Me and Heckles are going down the same path!" he continues maniacally. "We may be going at a different pace but all the stops are the same! First stop, bitter loneliness!"

"Chandler, man, you're not Heckles!" Joey says back, standing up from the couch and circling around the back of it. "The old man was crazy! You got nothing in common!"

"We have everything in common!"

Chandler is getting more and more agitated, and, judging by Joey's face, Joey doesn't really know what to do to calm him down (but there's also something else there; Chandler can't pinpoint it exactly, not when he's so worked up).

"Chandler," Joey starts, using his soft voice, the voice, "you're not gonna end up alone. You're a great guy. You're gonna make someone really happy one day."

"How do you know?" Chandler asks, nearly desperate, searching (maybe hoping? no not hoping shut up).

Joey approaches Chandler just a little slowly. "'Cause you're funny, y'know, and smart and good-looking, you know."

"But I just toss people aside," Chandler refutes, taking a step. "For no reason."

"There's a reason," Joey says. "The reason is that they're not right. There's someone out there who is."

"Who? Who is it?" Chandler demands. "How do you know?"

"I just know, okay." Joey's face is doing something, but Chandler can't tell what it is.

"You can't just know." At this point, Chandler knows he's being difficult, but something is happening, and he needs it to keep happening.

"Damn it, Chandler, listen to me!" Joey exclaims, taking another step toward him. "You're not gonna end up alone! You're always gonna have someone."

"Well, I've never had anyone before." 

"You've had me!"

"It's not the same!"

"It could be!"

Pause. _What?_

Chandler almost had a fiery comeback ready to go, but it stopped short. He furrows his eyebrows and tries to not think about it too hard (the way he's been trained) while still thinking about it really, really hard.

The only thing that he can get out is a quiet, "What?"

Joey's face tenses up. "I was just - just - saying - I don't know - it - it- it could be. Me and - and you."

Chandler tries saying it out loud. "Me . . . and you."

Joey doesn't say anything. He just nods a tiny little nod and directs his gaze downward. Finally, he says, "It's stupid."

"Yeah," Chandler mumbles, but he's not really agreeing or anything, it's just that his mouth definitely needed to say something before it did something else that he might regret.

Then he catches himself. "I mean, no - no, it's not - stupid. It's - it's, I don't know, it's - I don't know."

Joey glances back up at him for a quick second. "Nah, forget it, I'm sorry -"

"It's okay." Chandler steps forward a little, one hand on his hip and one on his mouth nervously. "I just - I just never . . . thought about it."

"I know," Joey shrugs. "It's just that . . . well, I have."

"Oh," Chandlers nods, and that's all he really knows to say. What's he supposed to do in this situation? He can't think of a joke, which is terrifying enough, but adding to that, Joey looks vulnerable and it's all just so much.

So he does what he has to do. He says, "Alright," and takes two steps forward, until he and Joey are nearly touching. Joey looks up at him and takes half a step back, letting out an awkward little chuckle, and Chandler just does it.

He's gentle. He kisses Joey quickly and then pulls away to see Joey's eyes closed. Chandler takes a breath, a beat. Joey opens his eyes for just a split second before he leans forward and kisses Chandler even deeper, reaching a hand up to almost - almost - touch Chandler's cheek.

Chandler breathes him in. This is definitely - new. Joey smells different, darker and muskier and warmer. He tastes different, sort of like an assortment of foods that Chandler doesn't want to think about at all. He feels different, when Chandler moves to put his hands on his waist and pull him a little closer; he feels firm and solid but inviting.

Chandler has never made out with a guy before, but it's oddly incredibly enjoyable, and he thinks quickly that maybe it's just Joey, hasn't there always been something there?

They pull away, eyes still closed, maybe because feeling so much and seeing it all, too, is just too much.

When asked later on, when they show up in Monica and Rachel's apartment giggling cutely to each other, what happened, they don't know what to say.

The gang all shrug or smile or exchange looks, but they talk about it later when Chandler and Joey aren't there and decide that it was a long time coming.

Joey and Chandler decide that, too.

**Author's Note:**

> my first Friends fic and it's this hot mess :) pls forgive me if/when it gets out of character. i just watched this episode and saw this scene and loved it so much and absolutely needed to write this. it turned into something entirely different than what i imagined it while watching, but i actually like it well enough. it took me waaayyy too long to write it but whatev
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed it!! pls let me know how i did!! <3


End file.
